Brassiere



. l. BECKER Feb. 13, 1951 BRASSIERE Filed Feb. 25

INVENTOR yldorl Bevfar in/c A RN EY Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UN [T E!)STATES PAT O-F'FI C E 2,541,147" BnAssIEaE Victor I Becker, Los'Angeles, Gaiif.

Application February 25, 1950, Serial No. 146,281

2 Claims.

This, invention. relates to brassieres, and. has for. its. primaryobjectthe provisionof. a garment of this character inwhichbusteencircling frames on stiffeningmembers areutilizedaroundthebust cupstoaid inthe shapingmaintenance and. support of the busts, and.in which diaphragm-supporting means are incorporated and maintainedflat'wisel'y by utilization of a part of a reinforced sheath orsleevein'which. the stiffening members are contained.

The invention further contemplates a means by which the bust-encirclingwires or stiffeners are covered and protected by enclosure in sheaths orsleeves which enable the garment to be worn with comfort, at the sametime permitting the shaping and maintaining effect secured by relativelystiff encircling members to be obtained.

The invention also contemplates. the provision of'downwardpadded'extensi'ons on. the wire-containing'sheat-hs which extensions;project to. the lower edge of the brassiere and tend to hold; the lowerportion, or that part which overlies the diaphragm, flatly andwrinkle-free.

More particularly, the invention comprises a brassiere in which eachbust cup is encircled with a fabric tube or sheath in which a stiffeningwire is contained, such tube or sheath housing and completely enclosingthe stiffener and providing padded protection therefor, said tube orsheath being formed with a downward leg or extension projecting to thelower edge of the garment, said downward extension being padded andpreferably of a stiffness less than that of the stiffening member withinthe sheath but of sufiicient stiffness to maintain overlapping diaphragmflaps, with which the garment is provided, from longitudinally wrinklingor creasing and thus enabling the garment to be worn with ease andcomfort.

The invention further includes a connection means of novel constructionlocated between the bust cups at the center of the garment, and in otherfeatures to be hereinafter pointed out and set forth in the claimsappended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a brassiereconstructed in accordance with the invention, the garment being shown inits open or flat position; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the garment, with aportion of one of the sheaths or tubes being broken away to show thewire stiffener contained therein; Fig. 3 is a sectional view inperspective, the view being taken on the line 3 of Fig. 2, looking inthe direction of the arrow, and Fig. 4 is a view of the central part ofthe brassiere, looking at the rear side thereof.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals I and 2 indicate the two bustcups, the same being of similar construction. In the form shown, theupper portion of each cup is of netted material as shown at 3, while thelower portion 4 is shown of moreclosely woven fabric. It will beapparent however that these portions of the brassire may be of. othermaterialor of other known construction. Each ofthe bust cups Iv and 2 isencircled by a: continuous, lengthy fabric tube or sheath I3 stitched tothe edge portions 3 and 4 of the cup by one or more lines of stitchingindicated at. 1.4; Contained within each of these tubes or sheaths. I3is the stiffening wire [8 which also completely encircles the bust cupbut has its ends slightly spaced apart, such ends being respectivelyindicated at It and Il..

Each of the stiffening wires I6. is completely enclosed or housed withinitstube or sheath [3 and the interior of the sheath may be padded ifdesired, to provide soft contact of the enclosed wire against the body.It W111 be' noted that each of the tubes or sheaths is formed with adownwardly extending leg portion 15 which extends downwardly from thelower edge of the bust cup to the lower edge of the garment. The portionof the stiffening wire entering this part of the sheath terminates atthe lower end of the bust cup, or at the point designated at I6, and theleg portion [5, below such termination of the wire, is filled withpadding I9 which makes this leg portion of the tube or sheath relativelystiff, yet of considerably less stiffness than the wire 18. Thus, thisleg portion of the tube or sheath may be flexed or bent during bendingmovements of the wearer so that discomfort cannot be caused, but itnevertheless possesses sufficient stiffness to keep the lower ordiaphragm portion of the garment, to be described, from rolling up orlongitudinally creasing during wear of the garment.

The portion of each tube or sheath on which the leg extension I5 isformed is located at the lateral vertical side seam of the garment, suchseams being respectively indicated at 6 and 8. From the lateral seam 6extends the rear flap or wing 5 terminating in the tab l0, provided withthe holes H for selectively receiving the hooks 12 on the expansible tab9 formed on the end of the second flap or wing 1 attached at the lateralvertical seam 8.

Located below the cup l is a wing or flap 22 which, when viewed as inFig. 1, extends toward and is positioned under the cup 2. Said wing orflap 22 is provided at its end with an elastic insert 23 which has itsend attached permanently in the lateral vertical seam 8. A similar wingor flap 2d is located under the cup 2 and this latter flap extends inback of the flap 22 and is provided with the elastic insert 25, similarto that shown at 23, and which attaches permanently to the lateral seam6. This arrangement, which is not new per se, since it is shown inpatent to A. S. and V. I. Becker, No. 2,471,670, provides forexpansibility and self-adjustment in the diaphragm area of the garment,while the downwardly extended leg portions l5 prevent longitudinalcreasin or upturning of these parts ofthe garment.

To further facilitate the self-adjustment of the garment to variationsin bodily contour, I provide an expansible or elastic insert at thecenter of the garment between the bust cups,

such insert being shown at 20. While the lower portion of this insert iselastic, elasticity along.

and the protective sheathing therefor, the use of shoulder straps'is notavailed of in the illus-' trated garment. However, the features hereindescribed are readily applicable to brassieres provided withconventional shoulder straps should the same be found desirable ornecessary.

While I have herein shown and described one embodiment of the invention,it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but isbroad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of theannexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A brassiere having a pair of bust cups, each of said cups beingsurrounded by a sheathed stiifenin member, a downwardly and laterallyextending flap portion below each cup, said flaps overlapping andextending in opposite directions,

4 each flap terminating in an expansible end por tion anchored at itsend in a side seam of the garment, the bust cups being connectedtogether at the center of the garment above the flaps by an elasticinsert, a portion of said insert being reinforced by non-elastic,material at the upper edge.

2. A brassire having a pair of bust cups, said bust cups being connectedtogether at the center of the garment by' a partially elastic insert,the lower portion only of said insert being elastic, the

upper portion thereof being inexpansible, each cup being encircled by atubular sheath, a stifiening member contained in the sheath andsubstantially completely encircling thecup, said sheath having a. paddeddownward extension from the periphery of the bust cups at the outer sidethereof to the lower edge of the brassire, said extension being securedto a lateral vertical seam of the garment and being of less stiffnessthan said stiffening member.

VICTOR I. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Kramer Aug. 22, 1950

